Knowing Etiquette for Public Poise

Be poised, get creative and save your hair… “You're off to a dance and the wind stands your best hair-do on end. Must you wait for your escort to come to your rescue ? Not at all. Say, “Do you mind if I roll up this window?” Or be nonchalant and tie a scarf or handkerchief over your curls.”

Tips on Dating Manners 

The recipe for popularity is to meet every little emergency with poise. You're off to a dance and the wind stands your best hair-do on end. Must you wait for your escort to come to your rescue ? Not at all. Say, “Do you mind if I roll up this window?” Or be nonchalant and tie a scarf or handkerchief over your curls. 

Your glove drops on the car floor. Bill can't drive with one hand while he stands on his head looking for it. Maybe you can retrieve it gracefully yourself. Otherwise, wait until you get to your destination before you suggest a search. 

At the dance, your old friend Don appears, tries to take you in tow. Bill swings into a brand new step you just can't follow. It's no trick at all to handle situations like these —if you know the rules. – Santa Ana Journal, 1937

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Early “Motor City” Manners

Men of affairs do not eat with their fingers nor elevate their feet in drawing rooms, so why revert to the custom of prehistoric times in the use of like-manners at the wheel of the automobile? Motorists who impress with their good manners in home, office or club seemingly throw their breeding to the four winds when they drive.  – 
Image source, Instagram account, City of Ontario Library Collection

Detroit’s Code Of Motor Manners

City ordinances are not necessarily repressive. They are meant to be of aid in the general movement of congested traffic. They are helpful if motorists, collectively, and to the driver individually. Any given automobile, thus, probably would be smashed to pieces every day were it not for the general protection provided by laws primarily for the benefit of all. Don’t, therefore, be in ignorance of traffic regulations. 

Men of affairs do not eat with their fingers nor elevate their feet in drawing rooms, so why revert to the custom of prehistoric times in the use of like-manners at the wheel of the automobile? Motorists who impress with their good manners in home, office or club seemingly throw their breeding to the four winds when they drive. 

They dent fenders through traffic crowding. They frighten pedestrians, and they blast their horns long and loud when a warning would be plenty. Their lack of good balance and care adds to the possibility of accident, and accidents come like lightning strokes. Don't therefore, have two codes of courtesy—one for company and one for home, club or office: you are in company when you drive your car in public streets. 

Courteous driving provides a definite insurance protection which otherwise cannot be bought. Accidents and wrecks will not descend upon the ordinarily driven automobile. Statistics show that a huge majority of mishaps result from speeding or from various other actions of carelessness or traffic rule violations. 

No record exists so far as a railway train having left its track to hit a motor car. The fact that automobiles must first get in front of trains to be hit adds emphasis to the deduction that the more careful and mannerly the motorist is, the more certain is the atmosphere of protection and safety he surrounds himself with. Don’t, therefore, be an obstacle in the path of progress of automobile good driving. – The Morning Press, 1917

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Motor Car Etiquette (with Humor)

After you have run down a pedestrian be sure and "honk-honk" very vigorously, especially if you have previously given no warning signal. This little act of attention may be soothing to the last moments of the unfortunate. 

1. Always assist your lady passengers to their seats before taking your own; when alighting suddenly at a stone wall or fence, however, the question of precedence is not considered.
2. When a tire is punctured beyond repair it is considered the correct thing on the part of a host to be explicit as to the number if miles the party must walk to reach home.
3. If anything disagreeable happens, lay it to the chauffeur; if he is bigger than you it is permissible to do this behind his back.
4. After you have run down a pedestrian be sure and "honk-honk" very vigorously, especially if you have previously given no warning signal. This little act of attention may be soothing to the last moments of the unfortunate. 
5. If a horse shows signs of fright, put on all possible power and go by at full speed. In this way he will get rid of his fear- and possibly of his driver -more quickly.
6. If a village constable stands in the road watch in hand, head your machine at the watch. A correct aim destroys evidence.
7. No matter how well you can run your car, always keep a chauffeur in your pay: court rooms and country Jails are stuffy places,
8. If ladies are present when you get on your back under the machine to fix that little trouble." It is the custom to gag yourself with cotton waste.
9. If you have been persuaded to pur- chase a copy of the "Rules of the read,' 'throw it away; there are no rules for motorists.– New York Press 1906

Reminder: We have a free webinar on Dining According to Hollywood and Dining Etiquette as Presented on Film! You can watch it live on September 23rd at 4:00 pm PST (Pacific Standard Time). We have a limited number of viewers who can attend via Zoom, however, if you are registered and cannot watch the event live, you’ll be sent a video link to watch a copy at your leisure. Link to the Free Webinar –– https://events.humanitix.com/dining-according-to-hollywood-the-art-of-dining-on-film Please email any questions to: theetiquettechannel@gmail.com

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Courtesy on the Roads

Seldom does one meet a driver on the open highway who will give an inch to the other fellow and surrender his right-of-way to convenience other cars.

Boors All!

A reasoning being can usually find answers to his own questions, but there is one that stumps all. Why it is that motorists forget all etiquette and the rudiments of courtesy when they get behind a steering wheel? It is not polite to swear at the dining table if the butter isn’t passed the instant it is asked for. And almost everybody employs the polite “Pardon me” in pedestrian jams and crowded elevators. 

But get the same persons in the driver’s seat and there is loud honking and a cuss word or two, if the car ahead stops too suddenly or fails to start soon enough. Seldom does one meet a driver on the open highway who will give an inch to the other fellow and surrender his right-of-way to convenience other cars. It is everybody for himself and curses upon the other fellow even though his faults and transgressions are your own. – San Pedro News Pilot, 1932

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Ride-Share Etiquette

"To make this awkward situation a little more comfortable, there are manners that do apply. Every rideshare experience is completely different from the rest, so assumptions and expectations should never be made." - Lauren Freeman for The Corsair

Carpooling and Ride Sharing...

The Do's, Don'ts and Mannerisms

1. Make sure you have the cash squared away at first. Don't make them drive around looking for your ATM. 

2. Ask before eating, in the person's car. Maybe they are vegetarian and don't want to breathe in the smell of your Big Mac. 

3. Make sure they have enough room in the car for your belongings. Don't plan thinking that the driver will take your dog and two duffle bags. 

4. Don't plan on making multiple stops. Bring snacks and go to the bathroom right before. 

5. Keep up a conversation, don't just listen to your iPod and talk in the phone. Unless of course the driver doesn't want to talk. 

6. On top of that, don't discuss politics or religion. You should have learned that with your dinner table manners. 

7. Do have good taste in music. If you can't name all four of The Beatles, then let them pick the music. 

8. Do not make an unwanted sexual advances, unless that's the driver's preferred payment policy. 

9. No playing with the windows or heating system. Ask before you turn the A/C system to the same temperature as the Antarctic. 

10. Before you start packing community bowls, ask if they are 4/20 friendly. They might not want their car turned into a hotbox.

                                                                    – From The Corsair, 2009

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

1920's Etiquette Becomes Law

1920's etiquette for making boys making calls on girls.

Don't Toot the Horn When Paying Calls

When you go calling, ring the door bell; don’t toot the horn. This has long been a matter of etiquette. Now North Carolina is going to have it a matter of law. 

A recent law in the state makes it unlawful to use the horn for any other means than a warning device, or to make any unnecessary noise, loud or harsh other than a reasonable warning. Does this mean a warning to get out of the way or a warning that the boy friend has arrived and is waiting? – The Healdsburg Tribune, 1927

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Moderator and Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for the Road

Every man in this country who drives a car knows that he has to look out for two cars—his own and the other fellow’s.

Motor Car Etiquette

A Georgia editor claims to he able to judge a man's character by the way he drives a motor car—or words to that effect. He says that when he sees a gentleman coming toward him in a motor car, he gives him half of the road; when he sees a fool coming he gives him all of it. And when he sees a darn fool coming, he takes to the woods or climbs a telephone pole.

Every man in this country who drives a car knows that he has to look out for two cars—his own and the other fellow’s. He is not afraid of an accident from his own driving; that is. He is not afraid of his own. It is the other fellow’s car that causes him the most anxiety. And here, as in Georgia, it is the fool and the darn fool that is most to be feared.—Columbus Dispatch, 1919

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the

Site Moderator and Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia